Little moments... long remembered...

“Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” -James 4:14 (NASB)

 When is the last time you really looked at your children?  Deliberately stopping what you are doing for a moment & without them noticing… really looked at them. This last week as my whole family was home for Thanksgiving I found myself really studying my children. Looking into their eyes & taking in how beautiful they are. Studying their faces & finding features I hadn’t noticed in a long while.  Joshua’s deep dimples & thick curls, the little chicken pox scar left over Caleb’s eye & the way those eyes dance when he is being naughty, how Hannah is still growing into her teeth & the way she wrinkles her nose when she laughs.   

 Over the next few months all three of the Pelkey ‘kids’ are reaching milestone birthdays. Our Joshua just turned 21 in November, Caleb will be 18 in February & Miss Hannah is 10 today. This morning, she jumped out of bed, burst from her bedroom, threw her arms open wide & yelled, “Today I am 10! I’m in the double digits now!” 

After we bundled her up & reluctantly sent her off to school, I was looking back through some of our old journaling & found this beautiful entry by my husband, written when Joshua was 10. I think it speaks perfectly to what has been happening in my heart these past few days…  

“Last night as I walked into my boys bedroom, I knew they would already be sleeping.  I had been at youth group & they needed to go to bed before I got home.  I quietly moved to Caleb’s bed first.  Bent over & kissed him on his cheek.  He mumbled something & rolled over.  His little boy face was lit up from the light in the hallway.  His little bear tucked under his arm & his blanket wrapped tightly around him.  He looked so peaceful, so still.

Then I turned to Joshua’s bed & found him facing the wall as I approached.  I bent over him & stopped as I looked down.  His little boy face didn’t look little anymore.  It sure didn’t have the same little boy features as Caleb’s did.  I noticed for the first time, my oldest son.  My firstborn little boy was becoming a little man & I had not even noticed it until now.  I bent over & kissed his cheek & whispered “goodnight, son” & began to turn away.  As I got to the door, I heard Josh say, “Send Daddy up.”.  I replied that it was me & that I was just tucking him in.  He called me in again & asked for hugs and kisses.  I was more than eager to comply with his request & as I held him, I wondered where the time had gone.  When did he begin to grow up?  I wanted more time to be his daddy & he my little boy.  But I knew it would all too soon be a memory.  I said prayers with him & said good night & walked out of his room.”

As James says, “our life is just a vapor that appears for a moment & then vanishes away”… Today, our eldest son truly is a man & his little brother is not that far behind. & while it has always been our prayer that we never take for granted their place in our home we understand that they have begun lives of their own, outside of us. It is because of this that I am even more grateful for each & every moment that we are able to have them with us… for weekends like this past one… being able to share turkey dinner together, take a walk on the trail with our dogs, watch our favorite teams play football, stay up too late playing board games, talking & laughing till we cry or till I pee my pants.

I am incredibly thankful to Jesus for allowing me to experience such joy in my life & for blessing me with the opportunity to be ‘Mom’ to these three… crazy beautiful, ridiculously amazing people.

Happy Birthday Joshua, Caleb & Hannah!